


Just Below a Hundred Degrees.

by HimeBeat



Series: But It's Profound to Be Understood [7]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Everyone loves Delia let's be honest, Fluff, Go loves Delia, M/M, Sickfic, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:27:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25038475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HimeBeat/pseuds/HimeBeat
Summary: Ash is sick, Go is sick of Ash being sick, and Delia is everyone's favorite person. There's a Skitty and a napping Pikachu, somewhere in there.Also family feels & lots of engagement fluff.
Relationships: Gou | Goh/Satoshi | Ash Ketchum
Series: But It's Profound to Be Understood [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1743232
Comments: 10
Kudos: 85





	Just Below a Hundred Degrees.

**Author's Note:**

> Read on if you want a fix of Go looking after a sick Ash, OR if you feel like watching him have a meltdown over wedding and family feels. I cater to all. thank you for tuning in!

“Go…I’m dying” He whines, sweaty head resting against his partner’s back, arms around his waist.

The aforementioned rolls his eyes.

“You are not dying” He replies, patiently, he turns in the trainer’s arms, placing a hand against his neck “but you _are_ burning up, and should be in bed. Why did you even get out?”

“Because I’m _dying”_

He’s not. But he _is_ a sad sight, hair sticking out more disorderly than usual, wrapped in a thick throw blanket, sweatpants, and Go’s red hoodie, which is a little tight on him, but it’s the warmest one they have, and Ash had been adamant it’s the one he wanted.

“Stop saying that” Chastises the researcher. He wraps his hands around Ash’s wrists, and caresses the available skin “You’ve just got a fever, from running after that Skitty under the rain” He reminds.

“You really wanted it” Replies Ash under his breath, pouting.

“Not if it means you’d be like this!”

Ash looks at him with glassy, tired eyes, helpless, and Go has no choice but to sigh.

Ash had only been trying to help, Go knows, yet again just doing what he had wanted, chasing after his every whim, just to make him happy.

And now he had a fever, and the beginnings of what could become a very nasty cough, if they didn’t tackle it right away.

Which wasn’t really going to happen if Ash didn’t _fucking stay in bed._

“I’m sorry” He hears Ash say, softly again, like a scolded child.

“No, _I’m_ sorry, I know you were just trying to help, I’m sorry you got sick for it”

Ash shrugs “Eh, worth it” His head turns to their living room, eyes glazing over the couch, where the recently caught Skitty naps next to Cinderace and Pikachu, all sprawled out over the seats.

Go follows his gaze, and smiles at the picture “Thank you” he breathes.

Ash looks at him again, soft smile playing on his face, he nods once, and leans forward, so their foreheads rest together. Feeling the unhealthy warmth of his fiancé’s body, Go sets to take care of him, as it is his promise in moments like this.

And always, really. 

“Come on, let’s get you back to bed” He prompts, pushing Ash a little, out of the kitchen and in direction to the room.

“Will you join me?” His cheeks are flushed, lips standing out cutely in a pout, his eyes unfairly bright, Go knows it’s mostly the fever, but a part of it is also Ash trying to get his way with something.

If his temperature weren’t dangerously high at the moment, Go would join him in bed for a lot more than just resting…

Maybe later, when he’s feeling better.

Go shakes his head “I’m making you some tea” He explains “I’ll bring it to you in a little bit”

“And then you will join me?” Presses the trainer, hopeful.

“And then I will join you” Nods the blue eyed man, with a roll of eyes, but hardly suppressing his smile.

Ash smiles, triumphant, and obediently makes his way to their room.

When he’s gone, Go sighs again, worried.

He knows it isn’t a big deal, Ash getting a fever, but a part of him can’t help the ebbing concern over it. He doesn’t get sick often, but when he does, it usually knocks him down for a good week, in which he is utterly miserable the whole time.

Not to mention insufferable.

Go chuckles, he _would_ be.

Unable to run around burning all his energy - even when he’s tired and feverish - he gets easily restless. Ash wasn’t really made to stay put. And Go knows that, exhausting as it is for him to look after the trainer, with the constant whining and misbehavior of _not staying in bed,_ he understands it’s a lot worse for Ash, who counts down the seconds until he can be out and about again, onto his next adventure.

And it is Go’s job to make sure that happens soon. As soon as humanly possible. For both of their sakes.

His phone rings, bringing him out of his thoughts, and he smiles when he sees the familiar face on the screen.

“Hello, Delia” He greets, watching his (to be) mother-in-law smiling back at him.

“Go, sweetie! Hi!” She’s so cute, thinks Go, just as pure as his knucklehead of a partner, always so kind. He so happy she’s about to become his family, too. “How is he?” She asks, voice full of sympathy.

For Go, not for Ash. She knows how hard it can be to look after a sick Ash Ketchum.

“I’ve had to push him back to bed three times already, and it’s hardly noon” Complains the scientists with a scoff.

At the other side of the screen, Delia chuckles.

“That’s not too bad” she says, sweetly “How’s the fever?” There’s a hint of motherly concern in her tone now, and Go finds solace in knowing he’s not the only one losing it over something as inane as a little temperature.

“Um, just below a 100 degrees, I checked about an hour ago”

Delia winces a little, and now he feels a pang of guilt, for making her worry as well, and for making Ash get sick in the first place.

“Oh, my poor baby” She expresses.

“It’s all my fault” Laments Go “I was chasing after this Skitty, and he wanted to help, so he began chasing it as well…and it’d been drizzling some but then it got worse and it was _pouring,_ and he just _kept going_ under all that rain and…” and he’s getting mad at himself now, for not stopping Ash in his ridiculous chase.

To his surprise, Delia laughs.

“Oh, Go, dear, don’t beat yourself over it” Soothes the woman “You couldn’t have stopped him, you know how he is when he gets an idea, specially when it comes to you” There’s a knowing smile in her face now, a little teasing, making him blush.

Her smile intensifies at his reaction.

And maybe Ash is right, she _does_ get a kick out of it.

“I’m still really sorry” He says, bowing his head in apology.

This woman has accepted Go as part of her family, more even, is willing to let Ash spend a lifetime with him, she is _encouraging_ of the decision. Had cried happy tears when they had told her of their engagement.

And here he is, making her son chase after pink kittens under the rain, just because he felt like catching one.

Some fiancé he is.

But she waves off his worry “Don’t worry, sweetie, truly, it wasn’t your fault” She comforts again “Tell me, now, did you get the Skitty after all?”

Go smirks, remembering Ash’s proud face when he’d returned, soaking, with an equally wet kitten in his arms, it had apparently been hiding in an alley when Ash got to it, terrified of the thunders.

“Yeah, we did…” He turns to the back camera, closing through the open space that connects their kitchen to their living room, and shows her the Pokémon, still cuddled together on the couch.

“Oh my, they look so cute!” She exclaims. Pikachu’s ears rise at the familiar pitch of her voice. Still, is not enough to bring it out of its slumber, and instead it buries a little further into Skitty’s side.

Go turns the camera again, his smile matching hers.

“Now, how about I give you my famous noddle-soup recipe? I used to make it every time Ash got sick as a child, works like a charm” She offers, and Go feels a sudden wave of sentiment.

Over noodle-soup.

Well, the meaning behind it.

“Really?” He asks, voice a little choked with emotion.

“Yes! He loves it, and he’ll be feeling better in no time, you’ll see”

That’s music to his ears.

“Is good that you keep these recipes, you’ll be using them for many years, I’m sure” she comments with a wink.

Go adores this woman.

“I hope Ash won’t be getting sick too often, though” He says, frowning slightly at the thought.

“Well, of course not, he’s a healthy boy, but kids get sick, too, and I know Ash isn’t the most skilled in the kitchen, so it’s best you learn them for when your children catch a cold” She says it so nonchalantly, as if she were telling him it’s a sunny day in Pallet-town, but to Go, it’s the ultimate vote of trust and acceptance to him, and now _he_ is the one who feels like dying.

With joy, that is.

Because few things make him as excited as the idea of a family with Ash.

It is still a while to come, he knows, they’re not even married yet, and even after that, they’re younger than they would like to be before they can take that step.

But, hell, it’s just such a wonderful thought. A family, children, _their children,_ who will grow up surrounded by a loving family and a plethora of Pokémon, learning all there is to know about this fascinating world they live in.

It’ll be the greatest adventure.

And Delia seems to agree, too! Which makes it all the more exciting.

“I…” He’s at a loss. He feels like crying, he wants to thank her, to tell her she’s the greatest, that he is so, _so happy_ they’re going to be family soon.

He breathes in, overwhelmed.

But she’s still smiling at him, maybe knowing about the whirlwind of thoughts in his head, maybe oblivious to it. Either way, she’s kind enough to grant him a few seconds, so he can get it together.

“Thank you” is what he finally says. It’s not enough, it’s but the surface of everything he’s feeling right now, but he hopes she will understand.

She’s a mother, _of course_ she understands.

 _“_ It’s my pleasure, sweetie”

She proceeds to share the recipe with him, step by step, giving him all the secret tricks to make the perfect soup, not sparing a single detail.

-0-

A few hours later, Go walks into their darkened room, the curtains shut closed, so that Ash could rest uninterrupted.

He’d drunk his tea, falling asleep shortly after, hugging Go’s pillow to his chest.

And that’s how the blue-eyed man finds him now, still asleep, snuggled to his side of the bed, looking so soft, so comfortable, and Go can’t help the wave of tenderness that washes over him at the scene.

He places the tray on the nightstand, sitting on the bed, and wrapping himself over the trainer’s back in a half-hug.

“Hey there, you feeling better?” He asks, voice full of warmth.

Ash wriggles a little, eyes blinking slowly with some difficulty. He makes a little _oomph_ sound, and motions what _may be_ a nod.

“Yeah? I made you some soup, if you’re hungry now”

That seems to perk him up, his face rubbing against Go’s when he lifts his head “Food?”

Go snickers, figures _that_ would get a reaction “Yeah, food” He confirms. He sneaks a hand out to check his temperature. He’s still unhealthily warm, but he feels a little cooler than in the morning, and that comforts him, however momentarily.

Ash pushes back, beginning to get up, Go rising with him, until they’re both sitting on the bed and facing each other.

“Hey, it tastes just like my mom’s!” He exclaims, taking a spoonful.

“Ah, don’t eat too fast” Chides Go. Ash hadn’t eaten all day, and he doesn’t want for him to make himself sick. Well, sick _er. “_ It _should_ taste like your mom’s, I followed her recipe” he explains, quite pleased with himself.

Ash pouts when he hears she had called, he would’ve liked to speak with her, too.

“We’ll call her later” Amends Go, Ash nodding his agreement with cheeks full of soup.

He compliments the soup some more, making Go blush under his praise, _it’s just soup,_ he wants to say.

But even he knows it isn’t.

A soup recipe for when someone is poorly, some herbal tea remedy, it’s the type of things families have.

And that’s what they’re building. He and Ash. Along with Pikachu, Cinderace, and the rest of their Pokémon.

Along with Delia and Professor Oak, his parents, and their people in Alola, too.

But…this right now, what holds between the walls of their small apartment, _this_ is something Go desperately wants to protect. This is where his own family begins.

With a feverish fiancé and a triad of napping Pokémon.

“Thank you, baby” Says Ash, smiling softly, brown-eyes still a little sleepy, but in much better spirits than that morning.

“It’s my pleasure” He replies, repeating Delia’s words from before.

“Not just for the soup, I mean…thank you for taking care of me” Clarifies the trainer, and Go can’t tell if the blush is from the fever or for the sentiment he’s trying to express.

It doesn’t matter.

“Comes in the job description” Jokes the researcher, making Ash chuckle.

“You’re good at this job” his voice is joyous, making Go feel infinitely happy.

He looks at the band on his left finger, the silver glinting gently in the light of lamp he had turned on.

Go catches himself sometimes, doing this, just looking at it, thinking of what it means, what it represents to him, and to the world, what it had meant to Ash when he’d given it to him.

It’s a promise, of what’s yet to come, that family he’d been daydreaming about in the morning, the adventures they have yet to experience together. The rest of their lives.

But it’s also a statement, and a recognition. It’s saying _I choose you,_ above all the others, to stick around and figure out this life business, standing by each other’s side. Like equals, what he’s always known them to be.

It’s saying _I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather do this with. It has to be you._

The ring is so light, crafted that way so Go could go about his days without a second thought of it getting stuck or causing trouble. But the weight of what it represents isn’t something he takes for granted. He thinks of it constantly, of the fact that Ash had chosen him back.

How that decision made his life so wonderful.

He _should_ be good at this job, he _loves_ it.

He isn’t surprised to notice Ash had been looking at his ring as well, awed.

They are both irremediable saps. And he wouldn’t have them any other way.

“Are you feeling better?” He asks again, hoping the answer will be more elaborate than a sleepy grunt.

He gets an enthusiastic nod “Much”

He’s still feverish, but it seems as though his headache is gone, and he’s not complaining about a sore throat or impaired-taste, which is all good news. They might still get him better before the cold catches.

“That’s good, I’m glad” breathes Go, some of his earlier worry fading.

“I’m still _awfully tired_ , though” murmurs Ash, and the look he gives Go is one he definitely _shouldn’t,_ when’s he’s got a 100º fever.

Come to think of it, Go is feeling a little hot as well.

“No, stop that” He cuts, curtly, before Ash can do or say anything else.

“I didn’t do anything!” Protests the man, pout intensifying.

Blue eyes narrow in suspicion “Get some more rest” He directs, standing from the bed.

A warm hand wraps around his forearm, pleading brown eyes looking up.

“Stay?” He asks, quietly.

Manipulative asshole.

Still, there’s nothing Go would deny him, not now, and he fears not ever.

“I’m just going to leave these in the kitchen” he says, pointing to the empty dishes “I’ll be back in a minute” he promises, and Ash releases him with a slow nod.

“Ah, bring the Pokémon!” He requests.

 _That_ might be a tall order, considering they’ve all sort of merged into each other on the couch, Cinderace’s ears blanketing Skitty, its furry back in turn pillowing Pikachu.

He’s not looking forward to waking them up. But, gratefully, they all follow without compliant when he explains Ash had asked for them, and that he would feel _so much better,_ if they were to join him on his nap.

They spend that afternoon in bed, napping on and off, watching re-runs of Detective Laki from Alola, their Pokémon cuddled up to them, Go dutifully checking Ash’s temperature every few hours, watching how it goes down just by a few degrees, but that’s enough to ensure he’ll be just fine. He’s already getting better.

And with Ash’s head agains this chest, sleeping the rest of his fever away, and the Pokémon back to their original formation at the bottom of the bed, he feels like he can rest, too, content to know his family is safe.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're wondering, they're around their mid-twenties on this one, it falls in the 'But it's Profound to be Understood' 'verse, which isn't lineal, hence why they're a lot younger in my other fics, I can tell you, though, that I've written up to the engagement scenes, and those should start coming out after I'm finished with the Alola fic. 
> 
> I hope you liked this! let me know what you think, comments and kudos are infinitely appreciated x


End file.
